Raven

Subject Facts

Full Name: Raven
Codename: N/A
Age: 20; biologically
Gender: Female
Archetype: Meta Hero
Aliases: Rachel Roth
Marital Status: Single
Affiliation: Teen Titans; Titans, Sentinels of Magic

Subject Attributes

Meta-Human Abilities: Empathy - Raven is a remarkably powerful empath. She is capable of sensing the emotions that others are experiencing, which offers a great and uncanny deal of insight into those around her. Raven is also able of negating emotion through absorption as well as instilling certain ones. Raven gains power, energy and even vitality by simply being around pure emotions (love, compassion, hope) and absorbing them.

Healer - Through physical contact Raven can disperse pain and injury in someone by taking it into herself, healing her subject. As the process implies, to do this Raven experiences whatever injury or ailment she's purifying her patient of, sometimes even physically taking them upon herself. Raven then uses her empathy and mental/emotional control to discard the pain.

Soul-Self - Raven can manifest her spirit (called her "soul-self") in the physical world for myriad purposes. She may expel her soul-self to investigate surroundings remotely, enhance her perceptions to the supernatural and even attack at need. Raven's soul-self is a doorway between dimensions, and by encapsulating someone in her soul-self she can bring them deep into themselves, either for therapeutic purposes, or offensively by making them confront their deepest fears.

Teleportation - One of Raven's most iconic powers is the ability to transport herself and others instantaneously over distances vast and short, usually with the aesthetic of violet smoke, the decrease of temperature in the vicinity of where she will appear and a crackle as of static electricity. By using her soul-self's capacity as a portal between dimensions, this means that Raven can use her teleportation to shuttle herself and others to dimensions both parallel and not. The larger the distance and the more Raven is transporting, the more energy/stress it takes.

Levitation - Since her latest resurrection, Raven can fly unaided. Her method seems to translate more as levitation, and therefor is inherently less swift and more precise than other superheroes that she fights alongside.

Miasma - Raven tends to trail her own, personal shroud of otherworldly violet haze/mist/miasma, much like that which appears when she teleports. This veil seems synced with her emotional state or readiness to attack, meaning it's more prevalent when she's experiencing negative emotions (anxiety, fear, anger, etc) or in battle.

Telekinesis - Raven can affect physical matter through sheer force of will, usually signified by the objects being highlighted in her unique energy signature. Using this same energy she can create physical constructs such as defensive barriers, or bolts of force for offensive purposes.

Sorceress - She is a highly skilled sorceress and practitioner of magic. Whenever Raven needs to accomplish a feat that is beyond her other powers, she normally knows a spell or use of magic to manage it. Raven's been shown accomplishing mystic rituals and having awareness, premonitions, or heightened senses regarding magic energies.

Standard Abilities: Occultism - She is knowledgeable and experience in the realms of magic, mysticism, sorcery and the occult or paranormal. Raven's expertise is in the darker depths of these disciplines; demons, etc.

Meditation - Raven possesses an extremely ordered mind, and is very talented in meditation and the monitoring of her thoughts, mindscape and emotions.

Mediator - Thanks to her empathic powers, Raven can mediate and relate to others in ways most cannot. She can put the feelings of others into words that they wouldn't even be able to, and can be quite cathartic, therapeutic or helpful in this way.

Paraphernalia:  Raven owns items, tomes and miscellaneous elements to do with and aid in her occultism.

Subject Weaknesses: Emotional State - Raven's demonic heritage can gain in strength without her consciously controlling her emotional and mental state daily. If it is sufficiently empowered, it can overwhelm her, transforming her into a demonic entity without empathy, compassion or kindness that is extremely difficult for Raven to subdue on her own.

Empathic Absorption - She is constantly absorbing the ambient emotions in her vicinity. Very strong or toxic emotional climes can distract, disorient, exhaust and hurt her.

Chakra - Raven's chakra (the red gemstone embedded in her forehead) is a crucial part of controlling her abilities. Without it, she struggles to even keep her soul-self within her physical body.

Demonic Heritage - Her demonic heritage is unavoidable and she is unable to conceal it from the mystically-inclined. Sorcerers and those of magic can see her for what she is at once, and usually judge her or treat her in kind automatically.

Higher Magicks - If Raven encounters magic of a higher order (from a deity, etc.) her own spells are usually unable to affect or negate it, forcing her to use other means or workarounds.

Mortality - Raven is mortal and can be harmed, injured and killed like any other.

Subject History

Raven is the daughter of a union between Trigon the Terrible, a powerful extra-dimensional being, and Arella, a woman who was seduced by a satanic cult to try to bring Satan to earth. Instead, Trigon came and took Arella as his bride. Almost at the point of suicide, Arella was rescued by an extra-dimensional pacifist cult and taken to the other-worldly dimensional place known as Azarath. There, she gave birth to Raven. The moment Raven was born, Trigon’s evil influence was felt in Azarath. The grand-daughter of the original Azar herself raised Raven and trained her to keep her emotions in check, lest Trigon’s evil side within her would be set free.

At the age of ten, Arella once again cared for her daughter, as Azar passed away. Before Azar died, however, she gave Raven a pair of rings that she herself had always worn. The rings held Azar’s essence. Three years later, Trigon appeared in Azarath in an attempt to reclaim Raven as his own. As a defense mechanism, Raven unleashed her soul self for the first time. The manifestation of the soul self confirmed that Raven was indeed the daughter of Trigon. Trigon instilled more of his essence into Raven’s soul self and left without her, promising that she would eventually belong to him.

When Raven turned eighteen, she sensed Trigon’s evil growing, so she left Azar and traveled to earth to gather together a band of heroes that would be able to stop him. She first appeared to the Justice League, but was rebuffed when Zatanna sensed an evil within Raven. Undaunted, she gathered together the New Teen Titans, a new incarnation of the old team with Robin, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, Cyborg, Starfire and Changeling. When the Titans learned that Raven was the daughter of Trigon and had also manipulated Kid Flash into thinking he loved Raven, they abandoned her cause out of mistrust. But the teen heroes eventually learned the horrible truth from Arella, and gathered to help Raven defeat her fiendish father. The Titans prevented Trigon’s invasion plans, as the demon was thrown into an inter-dimensional prison with Arella acting as a gatekeeper.

After Trigon’s defeat, The Teen Titans decided to remain a team. But despite her father’s banishment, Raven still fought to contain the darkness within her. On Azarath, she was taught to contain any emotions to prevent her evil side from taking control. And the presence of Kid Flash presented a real danger – as both Raven and Kid Flash shared strong feeling for one another. Unfortunately, it became increasingly difficult for Raven to contain her sadistic nature – and Kid Flash was there to witness her demonic outbursts. This, along with other factors, led him to eventually leave the group.

Gentle new member Jericho tried to reach out to Raven, but with limited success. Eventually, Trigon came beckoning to Raven and she could no longer resist. During Trigon’s resurgence, Azarath was destroyed and Raven fell under her father’s control, taking on her father’s appearance as well. When the Titans battled Trigon and Raven, they were transformed into evil personas, which turned around and killed Raven. Actually, it was necessary for her to die so that all the souls of Azarath could destroy Trigon by using Raven’s body as a channel for their power. Lilith and Arella assisted in the defeat of Trigon, and with the Titans help, he was at last defeated.

When Trigon was seemingly eradicated, an angelic Raven disappeared in a burst of white light. Her body, now purged of Trigon’s evil, actually rose from the ashes of battle. As Raven vanished into the air, her mother Arella vowed to find her. The dazed Raven fell back to earth and was captured by Brother Blood’s minions. Blood used her emotion-warping powers to control Nightwing during his staged resurrection. The Titans eventually rescued Nightwing and Raven and put an end to Brother Blood for good. After these events, Raven wore a white cloak – reflecting her new cleansed persona.

Raven was at last able to express her emotions without unleashing her demonic side. She moved out of Titans Tower to take a small apartment above Broadway, seeking to better connect with humanity. And for the first time in her life, she was free to explore romantic pursuits. At first, Raven believed she was in love with Dick Grayson, but came to discover there are different kinds of love. She briefly had a relationship with Eric Forrester, but it turned out he was manipulating her. Forrester was actually a soul vampire and sought Raven’s soul self to sustain himself.

As the Titans celebrated the anniversary of their team’s formation, individual members were hunted and captured by the mysterious Wildebeest Society. Deathstroke, Nightwing, Troia, Pantha, Phantasm, Arella and Red Star joined forces to track them down. Upon locating the captured Titans, the heroes were shocked to learn the identity of the Wildebeest leader was their own teammate, Jericho, who was now corrupted by Trigon’s demonic energies. During the final showdown with the Wildebeest Society, Jericho and Raven were seemingly slain, while Arella and Danny Chase died and merged with the purged souls of Azarath to become the new Phantasm.

Although the Titans mourned her death, Raven’s spirit actually survived. Unfortunately, it took form as an evil avatar of Trigon, vowing to implant the seeds of Trigon’s unborn children into new vessels. This Evil Raven took mortal form and became a leather-clad emotional vampire – seeking powerful new bodies to act as hosts for Trigon’s seeds.

At the wedding ceremony of Nightwing and Starfire, Evil Raven launched her first first brutal attack – implanting a demon seed in the bride through a passionate kiss. This triggered startling changing in Starfire – causing her to leave Earth and go on a spiritual journey. Unknown to Starfire, she was actually implanted with the seed of Raven’s pure essence. Evil Raven continued her reign of terror, infusing Trigon seeds in Supergirl, Changeling, Magenta, Deathwing, and Thunder and Lightning. Eventually, Raven and her demon allies came into conflict with the Titans. But with the mystic might of Phantasm, the Titans finally destroyed this evil incarnation of Raven – or so they thought.

Evil Raven returned to destroy Starfire, since the last vestige of Raven’s pure soul lay dormant within her. To ferret out the alien princess, Raven incited a conflict in the Vegan Star System. As a result, Tamaran was destroyed along with the alien Technis. When Evil Raven’s true motives were revealed, Raven’s white soul self emerged from Starfire, helping the Titans to destroy Evil Raven utterly. Now free, Raven’s pure soul was reborn in a golden spirit form.

Raven helped Starfire rebuild her culture on a planet dubbed New Tamaran. But in the far reaches of space, an alien threat loomed – one that would soon reunite the Titans of past and present. Having collected a planet-size assortment of technological debris, Victor Stone journeyed to Earth to turn its moon into a new Technis world and populate it with his Titans allies. The JLA and the Titans first clashed, then united, eventually freeing Victor from alien influence. Following that, Raven’s spirit form went on a journey to reassess her place in the world.

Without a body to inhabit, Raven’s golden soul-self wandered the world aimlessly until a new form of evil came to claim her… an evil known as Brother Blood. Blood’s acolytes summoned a new vessel to serve as the Bride of Blood – a teenage body occupied by the soul of Raven. Blood then kidnapped Raven with the intention to wed the empath. When the Teen Titans attempted a rescue, they also found a scripture that revealed The Church of Blood was founded on the worship of Raven’s father, Trigon. They also learned of an ancient prophesy that told of the marriage between Brother Blood and Raven – a marriage that would bring armageddon and ‘cleanse the earth.’

Blood’s attempt to wed Raven was interrupted by the Teen Titans – along with Deathstroke and Ravager – who sought to slay Raven. Raven unleashed a flock of demons on the cult, forcing them to flee and ending Blood’s plan – for the time being. Raven decided to remain with the latest group of Titans following these events. She then decided to enroll at a local high school – in the alias of Rachel Roth – to experience life as a normal teenage girl.

Upon rescuing a reborn Raven from the clutches of the new Brother Blood, Beast Boy discovered a burgeoning attraction to his former teammate. But before Raven and Gar could fully explore their relationship, Beast Boy was called upon to help the Doom Patrol in Prague. With the Titans in disarray after the events of the Infinite Crisis, Beast Boy elected to remain with the Doom Patrol while Raven embarked on a mysterious mission of her own to bring back Jericho’s lost spirit in a new human body. After successfully restoring Jericho by using a ritual originated by Brother Blood, both Raven and Jericho rejoined the Teen Titans.

After a battle with Deathstroke’s nefarious Titans East team in New York, Raven took a leave of absence from the Teen Titans. After reclaiming Titans Island on the East River, Cyborg set out to create an East Coast Titans team. But the team was brutally massacred by an unseen evil force. Soon, Titans members past and present were attacked by demonic entities across the globe. Raven, sensing Trigon’s presence once again, called upon her former Titans allies to defeat her fiendish father.

But after investigating, the Titans learned that Trigon himself was not behind the attacks. The bestial assaults were actually orchestrated by Raven’s three demon half brothers. Working together as a team, the Titans thwarted the Sons of Trigon and prevented Trigon’s invasion plan. Following this adventure, Raven decided to join her former teammates – and the Titans were together as a team once again!

The Titans’ reunion was short-lived, as personal problems pulled each team member away. This led Raven and Beast Boy to rejoin the Teen Titans in San Francisco. (History copied from Titanstower.com)

Subject Interview

The moon shone down steadily through leafless branches. In a forested area not far outside of rural Keystone City, a chase was ongoing. A girl in a cloak of pale indigo ran between boles and stumbled over roots. One hand clasped a thick, locked tome against the stitch on her side. Violet eyes showed the whites all the way around and smoke curled off of a singed place on her upper arm that bore a seared sprawl of skin in a strange symbol.

She thought that she might be able to flee out of range of the powers that grounded her and prevented her from escaping in other means. The more fatigue wore on her, the less confident she felt in her sprint. Raven could feel the presence at her back, looming closer and closer. She grabbed a low-hanging branch and clung to it, breathing heavily for a moment of respite. The space she'd kept between herself and what hunted her closed; she could feel it lessen, but her feet didn't want to work anymore.

Dirt smeared her cape and her hood was down, leaving her long black hair to ripple in a midnight curtain down her back. The sound of snapping twigs and crunching leaves turned Raven around, just as a snarl ripped through the forest and two enormous golden eyes smiled as they fell upon their prey...

Raven stared at the cavern ceiling far away above her. The air was moist and cool and the smell of wet earth filled her nose. She knelt on a complicated magical diagram. Each of her wrists were encircled by bands of black metal of some kind that glowed with red symbols like unto the one on her arm. She cast out her mind, reaching for something - anything - to help her. The enchantments locking her powers kept her from managing much, but in the depths of her empathic powers there was a cord that burnt a little brighter than the forces that worked to silence her.

One that was forged long ago and hardened, refined and whetted over the years. Raven reached out with all of her strength, sweat beading on her brow and running down her back. She could only impress brief flashes - of a cave in a forest with Keystone City in the background, of her run through the night and failure to flee, of her as she was, imprisoned by the entities that had captured her. She hoped it was enough, because Raven hardly sent the flickers of emotion and images when the shackles shone brighter and she bit her lip to keep from crying out.

The connection was lost. Raven looked down at her knees. Hair fell over her shoulders, shading her face. "Koriand'r," she said in a whisper.

Author's Notes

Player Alias: Di

Other Characters: Diana Prince, Selina Kyle and Barbara Gordon

How did you find ARFD?: Creator